JPS60100480A - Manufacture of photoelectric converter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To couple adjacent elements in series at the side end without shortcircuiting by forming the first conductive film on the overall surface on a substrate, and then forming the second conductive film above the fourth opened groove formed by a laser light therein from the end of the substrate by utilizing the frame of the second conductive film. CONSTITUTION:A light transmission conductive film 5 is formed on a glass plate 1, scribing line opened grooves 13, 13' are formed by scanning a laser, the first electrodes 37, 39 are formed, and thereby forming the first and second element regions 31 and 11. The second groove 18 is formed at the left side of the first groove 13 to expose the sides 8, 9 of the first electrode. The second conductive film 4 of the back surface is formed, cutting and separating third groove 20 is further formed, a plurality of elements 31, 11 are connected in series by a coupler 12, and a silicon nitride film 21 is further formed, thereby preventing the leakage current between the elements from generating. Further, external leading terminal 23 is provided at the periphery 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a photoelectric conversion element (also referred to as an element) in which a non-single crystal semiconductor including an amorphous semiconductor that generates a photovoltaic force upon irradiation with light is provided on a substrate having an insulating surface.
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a panel-side end of a connecting portion in a photoelectric conversion device capable of generating high voltage, in which a plurality of photoelectric conversion devices are electrically connected in series.

In the present invention, when a photoelectric conversion device is manufactured by laser scribing (hereinafter referred to as LS), a first conductive film on a substrate and a second conductive film on a semiconductor are connected to each other in a connecting portion connecting each element in series. In order to prevent the conductive films on the semiconductor from showing up with each other due to their size and not being electrically connected in series, the second conductive film on the semiconductor is compared to the first conductive film on the substrate. It is characterized by having the same or smaller 1 model.

This invention provides that even in the periphery of a photoelectric conversion device panel (hereinafter simply referred to as a panel), especially when this panel is rectangular or rectangular, two side parts where no external lead-out electrodes are formed, the connection part, that is, one element. The lower electrode (the first electrode made of the first conductive film) of the element and the upper electrode (the second electrode made of the second conductive film) of the adjacent element are connected by a conductor. Generally, at the side edges of the panel, the substrate has a concave or convex warp of 1 μ to 0.1 m. Since the laser beam is out of focus at such side ends, the first conductive film cannot be completely electrically separated into the shape of the first electrode required for a predetermined element. .

Furthermore, if this first electrode is made of CTF whose main component is tin oxide or indium oxide, when it is formed on the side of the substrate by electron beam evaporation, the CTF wraps around and the conductivity on that side is removed by LS. Can not do it.

For this reason, it is not possible to electrically separate the first conductive film only by an opening groove (hereinafter referred to as a first opening groove) to form a first electrode for each element.

In order to eliminate such drawbacks, the present invention provides a first layer on this substrate.
After forming a conductive film on the entire surface, from the edge of the substrate to the inside (
Generally, a laser beam is used to open a groove (0.3 to 5 mm).
By forming four grooves (hereinafter referred to as fourth grooves), the first electrode for each element was surrounded by four grooves.

In this way, it was possible to eliminate the electric short between the electrodes due to variations in laser processing due to substrate warping at the edge of the substrate as described above.

However, it has been found that with only this fourth trench, when an electrode is formed on a semiconductor using the second conductive film, a short circuit may occur at the connecting portion connecting each element in series. In other words, if a second conductive film is formed that protrudes outward from the first conductive film, the second electrode at this connecting portion is connected to the first conductive film outside the groove of the adjacent element.
electrically connected to the conductive film. Furthermore, this conductive film short-circuits with the first conductive dust under the second electrode (4) due to leakage, resulting in a short-circuit between the upper and lower electrodes of the device at the periphery, and photovoltaic force is generated. I will not be able to do it. Therefore, it is extremely important industrially to prevent a decrease in photovoltaic force due to short circuits at the peripheral end.

That is, the present invention solves this problem by forming the second conductive film above the fourth groove or smaller inside the fourth groove by using the second conductive film bursting frame. It has been found that adjacent elements in one panel can be connected in series without shorting at the side ends.

The present invention aims to create such an integrated structure without using a mask, but during this integration, the side edges of the substrate, which tend to require extra steps, can be achieved in the same integration process as the LSI. It is something to do.

Generally, in the LS method, 10 to 100μ, for example, 50μ
It is possible to separate the two regions by a linear groove with a width of μ. However, in this LS method, it is extremely difficult to selectively remove surfaces, which increases the manufacturing cost. Furthermore, in the LS method, it is preferable to have straight lines or points because it increases productivity, but scanning a curved line in a complicated manner slows down the scanning speed and increases the price. When creating the peripheral part of the panel and the integrated structure in this method, it is extremely important to achieve this by using straight and linear grooves to increase industrial productivity. The present invention relates to a structure of a peripheral part, that is, a punt part, and a side end part of a photoelectric conversion device by making full use of its features.

Furthermore, in the present invention, in addition to using this laser scribing process, it is important to have a redundancy (margin) degree in the alignment accuracy of the scribe line. Therefore, the first electrode (lower side) between adjacent elements and the second electrode (upper electrode) of another element are electrically connected to the first electrode and its side surface by a lead extending from the second electrode. By connecting it to the scribe line, it was possible to provide redundancy in the position of the open groove of the scribe line.

Figure 1 shows a panel (50) of a photoelectric conversion device using the present invention.
is shown from the top. That is, in the drawing, the photoelectric conversion elements (31) <11) are connected in series via the connecting portion (12) and integrated to provide the photoelectric conversion device (50). The external extraction electrodes (5), <45) are provided at both ends. Separation grooves (62) are provided at the upper and lower ends of the panel to prevent electrical short-circuiting with the frame.

In the panel shown in Figure 1, its size is 20cm x 6
0cm, 40cmX120cm, 40cmX60cm
Any size can be obtained by design.

FIG. 2 shows a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line (AA') in FIG. 1. Furthermore, the vertical cross-sectional view of (B-B') is shown in Figure 3 (B).
3(C) is shown enlarged in FIG. 3(A). The numbers correspond to each other.

FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 1 along the line AA' according to the manufacturing process. That is, it is a longitudinal sectional view showing the manufacturing process of the method of the present invention.

In FIG. 2(A), a substrate having an insulating surface, such as a transparent substrate (1), that is, a glass plate (for example, 1.2 mm thick) is used.
, the length is 60cm (in the left and right direction in the drawing), 20cm in the middle)
Alternatively, a translucent organic resin was used. Furthermore, over the entire upper surface, a transparent conductive film such as ITO (approximately 1,500 people) +SnO (200 to 400 people) or a transparent conductive film whose main component is tin oxide doped with a halogen element (
1500-2000 people) by vacuum evaporation method, LPCVD method,
It was formed by a plasma CVD method or a spray method.

Although this first conductive film is not necessary in the external lead electrode section, an increase in manufacturing cost due to the use of a mask was avoided. In this way, a CTF is also formed on the electric field 4IA region (5). After this, 0.5 to 3 W output is applied from the upper side of this substrate using a YAG laser processing machine (manufactured by Nippon Laser), the spot diameter is 30 to 70 μφ, for example, 50 μφ, the frequency is 1a7Kllz,
The microcomputer controls the irradiation for 10 μs during the pulse, and the scanning creates the opening groove for the scribe line (13).
, <13') to divide each element region and the external extraction electrode region (5).

Then, first electrodes (37) and (39) were produced.

Open groove (13) formed by this first LS, <13
') is about 50μ in width and 20cm in length, and the depth is 1i0111. Ta. This length passes through the drawing from the top to the bottom in Figure 1.
The scanning speed for forming the open grooves was increased to 2 m/min.

In this way, the external extraction electrode region (5), the first element region (
31) and the second element A'j region (11) were constructed.The inside of these elements was 10 to 20 mm.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the fourth opening groove (56) for the separation groove on the side of the substrate in the method of the present invention was also fabricated by the same LS process. As a result, the element area (31) in the panel is covered with a non-uniform conductive film (33) at the periphery.
The laser beam is out of focus due to the warpage of the substrate at the concave and convex portions at the side edges, resulting in areas (
34). In the active region @ (32) where the device is formed, the first electrode of the device (31), (11) is taken in by the open groove (13, <56) and electrically separated from the surrounding area.

After that, this conductive film, the first groove and the fourth groove are covered with a plasma CVD method or an LP GVD method.
D method, light bladder? CVD method, LT CVD method (I(O
A non-single-crystal semiconductor that generates photovoltaic force by light irradiation (also called MOCVD method), especially a non-single-crystal semiconductor N (3) having a PN or PIN junction, is 0.2 to 1.0μ, typically 0.4 to It was formed to have a thickness of 0.6μ. A typical example is a P-type semiconductor (Six(,1-Hx =0.850
~150 people x 42) - Type 1 amorphous or semi-amorphous silicon semiconductor (0.4 to 0.6 μ x 43
)-N type microcrystals (100-200 people) or 5ixC
A non-single crystal semiconductor (3) having one PIN junction was made of a semiconductor (44) of I-x (0<X<1, for example x = 0.9). Further, as this semiconductor, there are two PIN junctions consisting of a P-type semiconductor (SixC+-x) - I- type Si semiconductor - N-type Si semiconductor - I)-type Si semiconductor - I-type 5ixGe +-x semiconductor - N-type semiconductor, and one PIN junction. II
Kundem type PINIIIIN...I with N junction
It may also be an IN junction semiconductor (3).

Such a non-single crystal semiconductor (3) was formed to have a uniform thickness over the entire surface of the CTF (2) and the open grooves (13) and (13'). Furthermore, as shown in Figure 2 (B),
A second opening groove (18) is placed on the left side of the first opening groove (13).
It is a distance of 100 to 200μ in a width of 0μ! It (1,7
) was formed by the second LSI process.

Thus, the second opening (18) is on the side of the first electrode (8).
, <9') were exposed. In this open groove, CT
F may have not only a side surface but also an upper surface or two surfaces and a side surface as a part constituting the contact.

The presence of the right side surface (9) of the first electrode formed by this second open groove causes the side surface (16) of the first electrode (37) to
It is provided over the first electrode position of the first element on the left side.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2(B), the first electrode (3
By entering the inside of 1), the side surface of the first electrode is exposed (8 ru (9)).

By doing so, the first electrode (37) of the first element
A part of it remains on the right side of the second open groove.

If there is no such residual area, the high heat of the laser light (~20
00° C.), the vicinity of this open groove is laser annealed and becomes polycrystalline, resulting in deterioration of insulation properties. This polycrystalline is extremely likely to occur on the surface of the glass substrate, so
The convex portion (9) prevents this crystallization and prevents electrical short-circuiting between the side surfaces (9) and (16). That is, the first electrode (39) in FIG. 2(C)
It was possible to prevent a short circuit between the electrode and the second electrode (38) of the same element.

The CTF remaining in this portion (9) was made to have a width of 20 to 200 μ. This laser beam was a little too strong at 0.5 to 3 W and removed all of the 0CTl+ (37) in the depth direction, resulting in a second electrode ( 38), there is no practical problem even if they are placed in close contact with each other. That is, it is extremely important for the industrial application of the present invention to be able to provide a margin for the intensity of the output pulse of the laser beam.

In FIG. 2, a second conductive film (4) on the back surface is further formed on this top surface as shown in FIG. A third open groove (20) for separating the cut 11i was formed by the S method.

This second conductive film (4) has a translucent conductive film of 100 to 14
ITO (indium tin oxide) was formed to a thickness of 0.00 mm, and titanium (10 to 50 mm), silver (100 to 500 mm), and 4 chromium were further formed to a thickness of 300 to 3000 mm on the upper surface. Or 300-3 chrome on ITO
It was formed to a thickness of 0,000 people. For example, a 21#j structure is used in which ITO has 1050 people and chromium has 1500 people.

It is also possible to form nickel or other metal on the chromium, or to use nichrome instead of chromium.

The size of this second conductive film is as shown in FIG.
As shown in >, the end portion (57) is provided above the fourth trench or on the element region (active region) side (32) (inside) of the fourth trench.

The end portion of the second conductive film was manufactured by masking the peripheral portion with a substrate holder (frame) when the second conductive film was manufactured by electron beam evaporation.

Using a frame in this manner has the advantage that no new process is required for the side edges of the second conductive film.

Since the end (57) of the second conductive film is thus provided above or inside the fourth groove of the first conductive film (preferably inside the inner end (35) of the groove), the second element (11
) is connected to the first electrode of the same element via the connecting part (12).
It was possible to prevent a short circuit caused by a short between the electrode and the first conductive film at the side end (34).

The back electrode is irradiated with a laser beam from above to cut and separate the second electrode to form a third open groove (20) (rlJ5
0 μ) is shown. Irradiation with laser light made it possible to selectively remove ITO and chromium, which are sublimable conductors. At this time, since the focus of the laser beam is set on this second conductive film, the underlying semiconductor is substantially formed at the side part of the panel (34 bar, Fig. 3). I found out that it's hard to do.

Furthermore, the upper part of the semiconductor under this third trench is oxidized (40).
and the leakage current between each electrode.
This prevented the occurrence of

Thus, as shown in FIG. 2(C), a plurality of elements (
31>, <11) were connected in series at the connecting part (12).

FIG. 2(D) shows the attempt to further complete the present invention as a photoelectric conversion device, that is, a silicon nitride film (21) with a film density of 500 to
It was formed to a thickness of 5,000 mm to prevent leakage current between each element. Furthermore, an external lead-out terminal (23) was provided at the peripheral portion (5). These were filled with an organic resin (22) such as polyimide, polyamide, Kapton or epoxy.

Thus, for the irradiation light (10), each element is
．． The effective area (192 m
m x 14.35mm x 40 steps 1102C11
! That is, 91.8%) was able to be obtained. As a result, if the segment has a conversion efficiency of 9.3%, then the panel has a conversion efficiency of 7.6% (AMI (100 mW/d)) of 9.
It was possible to provide an output power of 3 H.

Furthermore, since no metal mask is used at all, there is no industrial problem in the manufacturing process of large-area panels, making it extremely suitable for large-area, low-cost mass production for generating large amounts of power.

As a result, the effective area of the panel could be improved.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of (BB') and (C) in FIG. 1.

In Fig. 3 (A), it has two elements (31 (11) and a connecting part (12). Also in the side end part (34), as shown in Fig. 3 (B) (, CTF (59) remains.For this reason, in order to prevent the element (31), < 11) from becoming inoperable even if these conductors remain, this conductor (59) is further removed. Also, this part has a structure that allows the panel to be fixed to the outer frame (60).

That is, the first conductive film (
2) forms a fourth open groove (5G).

Furthermore, a semiconductor (3) is formed to cover this fourth trench. After that, a second conductive film is placed on the semiconductor at its end (
57) is provided above or inside the fourth open groove (56).

Even if the first electrodes of adjacent elements were connected to each other by this separation groove (62), short circuit could be prevented by the fourth open groove (56). Further, the conductor (34) is pressurized by the carbon fiber frame (60), and the element (
31) and <il), there is no characteristic deterioration of any kind.

That is, the side end part can be stably fixed to the outer frame (60) etc. for the first time due to the open groove (5 (3)) and the separation groove (62) by the side end (57).Furthermore, IAJ resin (63) Even if the frame and photoelectric conversion device are fixed together, it is now possible to create a highly reliable device.

Furthermore, it is possible to package 6 or 4 of these panels, for example, 40cm x 20cm or 60cm x 20cm, in series within an aluminum sash frame to create a 120cm x 40cm NEDO standard high power panel. be.

In addition, this NEDO standard panel is made into a composite body by gluing another glass plate or other mechanical substrate to the reflective surface side (upper side in the drawing) of the photoelectric conversion device of the present invention using a laminating adhesive such as Seaflex, etc. , 1 It is also effective to increase mechanical strength against rain, etc.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, light was incident from the lower glass plate. However, the present invention does not limit the light incident side to the lower side.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows a panel of a photoelectric conversion device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the manufacturing process of the photoelectric conversion device of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the photoelectric conversion device of FIG. 1 according to the present invention. Wolno 2 If M 0 CB> Fusenzu

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A step of forming a first conductive film on a substrate having an insulating surface; a step of electrically isolating the inside of the first conductive film on the substrate and the edge of the substrate; a step of forming a non-single crystal semiconductor covering the first conductive film and the trench; and forming a second conductive film above or inside the groove in close contact with the groove. 2. Claim 1, characterized in that the second conductive film is formed on the non-single crystal semiconductor on the plain interior side using the frame holding the substrate as a mask. A method for manufacturing a photoelectric conversion device.